Criminal Law Commons^™

Denying The Crime And Pleading Entrapment: Putting The Federal Law In Order, Richard C. Insalaco, Peter G. Fitzgerald

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The federal law of procedure in entrapment cases is in profound disarray. Despite four attempts over the past fifty years to clarify the law of pleadings in entrapment cases, the Supreme Court has yet to do so successfully. This Note focuses on these attempts, and analyzes the issue of whether to permit a defendant to plead entrapment while simultaneously denying the crime charged.

Part I reviews the historical development of the entrapment defense, the disagreement among the federal circuits with regard to alternative inconsistent defenses, and the arguments commentators have made for and against allowing alternative inconsistent defenses in entrapment …

Elevation Of Entrapment To A Constitutional Defense, Robert H. Thomson Iii

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The issue of entrapment arises initially as a defense when a person is accused of committing a criminal act in which government agents solicited, and perhaps actively participated in, the conduct for which the defendant stands accused. Classic entrapment situations occur when law enforcement officers, through agents or informers, solicit an illegal transaction, such as the sale of contraband. The evidence thereby obtained is used to support the prosecution of the individual accepting the solicitation. Solicitation is an important technique of law enforcement because evidence of illegal transactions is often impossible to obtain by other methods. Certain uses of solicitation …